Career Development: Definition, Objectives, Indicators, Stages, etc
career development
Definition of Career Development
Career development is a process of increasing individual willingness to work in order to achieve the desired career (Affandi, 2018, p. 19). However, of course the various concepts, aspects, and processes that cover it are not that simple. As revealed by Priansa (2018, p. 161) who argues that career development is a series of separate work activities which are complementary, sustainable and provide meaning to the lives of employees.
Thus the issue of career development is also very influential on the performance and job satisfaction of an employee, of course, the most concrete form is financial development and quality of life as well. Meanwhile Hartatik (2019, p. 138) provides several definition options that can cover career development which include the following.
Career development is a change in values, attitudes, and motivation that occurs in a person because with the addition/increase in age they will become more mature.
Career work is a business that is carried out formally and continuously with a focus on improving and increasing the ability of a worker.
Career development is personal improvements made by someone to achieve a career plan.
Career development is a condition that indicates an increase in the status of a person in an organization concerned.
This means that career development includes the development of the individual or employee himself, the effort or process to achieve it, improving the attitude of employees, to increasing their authority and position in the organization.
Meanwhile, according to Sutrisno (2019, p. 165) career development is personal improvements made to achieve a career plan. In other words, the company’s organization or leadership has prepared a prior plan on what needs to be done to develop an employee’s career while working.
Based on the understanding of career development according to the experts above, it can be concluded that career development is a process of increasing and changing the values of members of the organization towards a higher level of maturity, competence and authority based on planning and various other aspects that are well planned by individuals, especially by organization to improve the quality and performance of work and the lives of members of the organization holistically.
Career Development Goals
The main goal in career development is to improve employee performance to be more effective and efficient and to provide satisfactory results in achieving the goals expected by the organization. Several other career development goals according to Mangkunegara (2017, p. 77) include the following.
Assist in achieving individual and company goals. This career development itself can help employees and organizations in the company achieve goals.
Shows employee welfare relationship. The company assists employees in planning careers, one of which is by creating an atmosphere and welfare relationship between employees in order to generate employees with high loyalty to the company.
Help employees realize their potential abilities. In career development, an employee can help make people aware of their ability to occupy a certain position in the company according to the potential and expertise of each individual.
Strengthen the relationship between employees and the company. Career development can also create relationships and strengthen relationships between employees and the company.
Proving social responsibility. Career development can also create a positive work atmosphere in competition and employees become more prosperous.
Help strengthen the implementation of company programs. Career development can also make the company carry out the programs in it with the aim of achieving a company target.
Reducing turnover and staffing costs. Career development programs can also lead to lower turnover and more effective staffing costs.
Activate a long-distance thinking. Career development itself requires quite a long time because the placement of a professional and managerial position within the company requires requirements and qualifications according to abilities and requirements.
Meanwhile, according to Sutrisno (2019, p. 166) career development aims to:
Providing certainty of employee career direction in their work within the organization;
Increase the attractiveness of the organization or institution for qualified employees;
Facilitate management in carrying out human resource development programs, especially in the context of making career decisions as well as organizational or company human resource planning in line with organizational development plans;
Facilitate personnel administration, especially in administering employee movements in terms of career promotions, rotations or position demotions.
Career Development Indicators
In measuring the achievement of a variable, concrete indicators are needed which can become various symptoms or a real action that will affect something, including the problem of career development. According to Rivai (2018, pp. 44-145) career development indicators include the following.
Work performance
The assumption of good performance underlies all career development activities, when performance is below standard by ignoring other career development efforts, even the simplest career goals will not be achieved, career progress generally lies in performance and achievement.
Exposure
Exposure becomes savvy (hopefully maintains as high as possible). Know what to expect from promotions, transfers, or other career opportunities by carrying out conducive assignments. Without exposure, employees may not know the opportunities needed to achieve career goals.
Network
Through a network of personal relationships between one employee and another as well as relationships with professional groups, a good bond or network will form between these employees and other employees or with professional groups. The network will ultimately benefit employees in their career development.
Opportunity to grow (growth)
Employees should be given the opportunity to grow, for example, through training, and also continue their education. This will provide opportunities for employees to develop according to their career plans.
Advisors and sponsors
Many employees think that mentors can help them develop their careers. The advice given by mentors and coaches can help in their own career development process.
Meanwhile, according to Priansa (2018, p. 161) career development indicators are as follows.
Career planning
Employees must plan their careers for the future.
Career development
Individual Every employee must accept responsibility for career development or career advancement experienced.
Career Development Supported by the HR Department
Employee career development does not only depend on the employee but also on the role and guidance of the manager and HR department.
The Role of Feedback on Performance
Without feedback regarding career development efforts it is relatively difficult for employees of many years to prepare which is sometimes needed to achieve career development goals.
Forms of Career Development
Career development is not only about promotion. Even the shape or form itself is actually quite diverse. According to Cardoso (in Sunyoto, 2019, p. 138) the forms of career development can be divided into three, namely as follows.
education and training
Education and training for workers is every effort to improve worker performance in a particular job that is being responsible or a job that is related to work. To be effective training usually includes education or learning experiences, activities that are planned, and designed in response to identified needs.
Promotion / Promotion
Promotion or promotion is a change in position or position from a low level to a higher level, this change will usually be followed by an increase in one’s responsibilities, rights, and social status. If someone has the ability and expertise, he can be promoted and will be promoted according to his abilities, so that his responsibility will be even greater for the job.
Mutation/Change of Position
Mutations are activities that can develop a person’s position or status in an organization, or often also called a change of position in an organization. In other words, this mutation can mean an employee who is transferred to a certain position, or a certain location or branch office as well.
Stages of Career Development
According to Muhadi (2021, pp. 6-7) the stages of career development can be described as follows.
Career development consists of two sub-processes which include:
Occupational choice or choice of profession/position;
Organization choice, or choice of organization;
Choice of job assignment, or choice of job assignments; And
Career self-development, or independent career development.
This process occurs internally in individuals (employees) and is directly related to various policies and organizational needs. Meanwhile the second sub-process relates to HRM or human resource management and the organization itself which consists of:
Recruitment and selection, or employee recruitment and selection;
Human resources allocation appraisal and evaluation, or allocations from human resource managers and their evaluations; And
Training and development, which means training and development.
In addition, the career development process will also involve two important components, namely career planning and career management as follows.
Career Planning
Career planning or career planning is a process that takes place consciously so that:
Become aware of self, opportunities, obstacles, choices, and consequences.
To identify career-related goals.
Development related to providing, direction, timing, and sequence of steps to achieve specific career goals.
Career Management
Career management or career management is a process that has taken place starting from the preparation, implementation, monitoring of career plans carried out by individuals alone or together with the organization’s career system.
Factors Influencing Career Development
Most workers choose a career because it has the potential to grow both financially, quality of life, and job satisfaction. Because it is important to know the various factors that influence this career development problem. Hastho & Meilan (in Sunyoto, 2019, p. 186) revealed that there are several factors that influence career development, which include the following.
Employee and Organization Relations
In an ideal situation the employees of the organization are in a mutually beneficial relationship. In this ideal state both employees and organizations can achieve high work productivity. By creating a harmonious relationship between employees and the organization greatly affects career development.
Employee Personality
Employee career management is disrupted because there are employees who have deviant personalities, for example: too emotional, apathetic, ambitious and others. Employees who are ambitious and push their will to achieve their career goals will be difficult to cultivate because they themselves do not care about their careers.
External Factors
An employee who is promoted to a higher position, for example, may be forced to cancel because someone is dropped from outside the organization. These external factors cause the career management of an organization to go awry due to intervention from outsiders.
Politicization in Organizations
Employee career management will falter and even die if other factors such as intrigue, gossip, relationships between friends, nepotism and the like are more dominant in influencing a person’s career than his work performance. In other words, if the level of politicking in the organization is unhealthy, career management will almost certainly die by itself.
Reward System
The management system greatly influences many things including employee career management. Organizations that make a good reward system in the hope that every achievement shown by employees can be given a certain number of credit points.
Number of employees
According to experience and common sense, the more employees, the tighter the competition to occupy a position, and the smaller the opportunity for an employee to achieve certain career goals.
Organization Size
Organizational size in this context relates to the number of positions in the organization, including the number of types of work, and the number of employee personnel required to fill various positions and jobs. Usually the bigger the organization, the more complex employee career management matters. However, there are more opportunities for promotion and employee rotation.
Culture/Organizational Culture
Organizations also have certain culture, culture, and habits that surround them. There are organizations that tend to have a professional, objective, rational and democratic culture. Will appreciate work performance more and prioritize employee seniority.
Management Type
Theoretically normative, all management is the same, but in practice, the management of an organization may differ from the management of other organizations. If management tends to be closed, employee involvement in career development tends to be minimal. Conversely, if it tends to be open, democratic, then employee involvement in career development tends to be large.